Four
Feet Deep on Wild Horse Pass
Day 2 - Saturday Nov 13, 2005
I took this photo while crossing the Bombi summit 5,000 feet, on
my way to Ymir on Friday. This
pass is about 4,000 feet of elevation. We rode the Wild Horse Pass
on Saturday, up to over 6,000
feet.
Michelle and Dave Cushway put me up in their beautiful mountain
home, where I slept like a baby
with the old wood stove crackling all night. In the morning, I enjoyed
some very strong coffee, and
looked out the kitchen window, at the new three inches of snow.
Outside the boys, Drew and Dale played in the snow, sliding off
the shed roof . They were coming with
us to the top of the Wild Horse Pass. The have both been riding
since they were about four years old.
Doug Blake, one of Canada's most experienced hang gliders with over
thirty years experience,
says hello on the main street in Ymir's bustling down town core.
Doug flies his kite twelve months
of the year, and often invites other hang gliders to fly in the
Columbia Mountain range. Doug earns
his living building houses with Dave. It seems around here, the
guys do what they love, but it often
doesn't pay the rent. They have to work for a living, like the rest
of us.
We get to the KMA sled garage, and Dale shovels off the trailer.
We are trailering up the forest service road about four kms, then
we are going to ride another twelve kms to the summit.
In the village of Ymir British Columbia, the population is about
600. In the 1890's there were about
3,000 people living here, with twelve hotels, and twenty saloons.
It was a gold rush town, with some
silver, lead, and zinc, and the Burlington Northern railway came
up from Coleville Washington, where
their big smelter took most of the ore. Later in Trail, 45 minutes
from here, a big smelter was built. In
1904, seven hotels burned in the big fire. The town has a real sense
of history.
Drew is eleven years old, and has been riding since he was five.
He wants to be a carpenter and a guide,
like his dad.
This is the official KMA Tours deluxe Suburban cruiser. It burns
plenty of gas and affords Dave the
chance to practice pulling wrenches on a regular basis.
We throw three sleds on the trailer, and head up the mountain.
We get started on the logging road that leads to the summit.
Clikc here to listen to
"Where
are we?"
Myrna is eight years old and is the daughter of Tim Voth, the tail
gunner for KMA Tours. She's been riding
with her Dad since she can remember. Another potential Kootenay
snowmobile mountain guide for the future!
The wet snow starts falling like freezing rain. It's too hard on
the
eye balls, so I flip my visor down, but I have to wipe the ice off
every ten seconds, or I can't see anything. I wish I had brought
an
electric shield heater. Visibility through my visor is almost nill,
and the
sheer drop off on one side of the trail, is devastating at some
points.
I am sharing my sled with Dale. I let him drive, and I try to take
photos. It's not easy, and most of my
pictures are blurred, due to water droplets on the lens, and too
much movement in low light.
There is four feet of snow as we approach the summit, and Tim gets
stuck. Myrna is cold so Dave
gives her a sweater. We didn't bring a shovel, so we have to yard
it out by hand.
Dave decides to runs on up ahead to the top of the mountain,
to pack the trail down for the rest of us. We are breaking trail
for
the first time this year, so it's a bit tricky. There is much more
snow
up here than Dave expected. Visibility is limited.
On the left is a 500 Summit, liquid cool, and on the right is 500
Summit fan cool with a 136 inch track,
with inch and a half lugs. Dave's 2001 800 Summit Ski Doo High Mark,
has a 151 inch track, with two
inch lugs, and a 15 inch wide track. Now, all Ski Doo models are
a 16 inch wide track. Traction on a
mountain sled is measured by its' "foot print" or the
actual amount of square footage contact with the trail.
While we dig out, the boys climb the steep hills one the one side.
This area is called an Avi Zone.. in other words, they usually don't
stop here because of Avalanches. Every day the avi zone danger
changes. Daily avi reports are sent to Dave by e-mail every day,
by
the Canadian Avalanch Association. They rate the risk daily as high
medium and low.
Dave heads back down from the top.
Tim and Dave mug for a photo when we reach the summit. Up here,
we can't see the bowl, where
they wanted to play and high mark for my camera. The wind is picking
up. We have a drink from
the water bottles, and try to help the kids warm their hands. We
prepare for the descent. With poor
visibility, it's slow going. If you don't stay on the track, you
sink into the powder.
Hey, there's no photos of me! I guess I was too
busy tryint to focus on staying on the trails.
When we reached the summit, my ears popped just like they do on
an airplane. We were over 6,000 feet.
The weather man is promising sunshine and clear
skies for tomorrow. I am staying an extra day.
I can't leave without getting the powder and sunshine photos that
I came for. I want to shoot the
guys highmarking in the bowl. We will try again in the morning.
I am tired and will sleep well tonight,
no doubt.
zw
